The Queen will today grant a posthumous pardon for wartime codebreaker Alan Turing, who was convicted in the 1950s for homosexual activity.
The pardon is only the fourth since the Second World War to be granted under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.
It was requested by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling, who described Turing as a national hero who fell foul of the law because of his sexuality.
Pardoned: Almost 60 years after he killed himself with cyanide, gay Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing will be given a Royal pardon for the conviction which destroyed his life. Homosexual acts were only legalised in 1967
Mathematical genius: Mr Turing was seen as the father of modern computing and artifical intelligence
A life destroyed: Alan Turing with friends in his youth. He was 41 when he poisoned himself with cyanide
Ordinary house, extraordinary deeds: Hut 8 Naval Inteligence, where Alan Turing worked to crack German codes at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes. There has been a long-running campaign to clear his name
Codebreaker: The machine designed by Alan Turing which cracked the German Enigma code, thereby stripping the German U-boats which were blockading Britain of their cover during the Second World War
Icon: The codebreaker was previously honoured with a statue in Manchester's gay village, left, and a cover of the gay magazine Attitude, right. Gay rights activist Peter Tatchell said all those convicted should be pardoned
During the Second World War, the mathematician was pivotal in cracking the German Enigma codes, which gave Allied leaders vital information about the movement and intentions of Hitler’s forces.
Historians credit the work of Turing and his fellow codebreakers at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire with shortening the war by up to two years, saving countless lives.
Turing is also widely seen as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence.
But in 1952 he was convicted for homosexual activity, which was illegal at the time.
To avoid prison, Turing agreed to ‘chemical castration’ – hormonal treatment designed to reduce libido.
In 1954, aged 41, he died of cyanide poisoning. An inquest recorded a verdict of suicide, although his mother and others maintained that his death was accidental
As well as physical and emotional damage, his conviction had led to the removal of his security clearance and meant he was no longer able to work for GCHQ, the successor to the Government Code and Cypher School, based at Bletchley Park.
Speaking today, Baroness Trumpington - who worked with Turing at Bletchley Park - praised her former colleague, saying we could have lost the war had it not been for his work.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I really am very pleased [about the pardon].
'We knew the work he was doing at Bletchley Park was great. Without him, we could have lost the war. Our submarines were being sunk at the rate of knots.
'We could have lost the war through starvation. That's how bad it was.'
Legendary: Mr Turing's story was dramatised several times, including in the 1986 play Breaking the Code, which played at London's Theatre Royal. Alan Turing, right, was played by Sir Derek Jacobi
Drama: Turing will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the forthcoming drama The Imitation Game, which also features Kiera Knightley. The pair were spotted filming in London's King's Cross station in October
More recently Turing was depicted by Ed Stoppard in the Channel 4 drama Britain's Greatest Codebreaker
Rare: There have only been three Royal pardons since the end of the Second World War
Turing is being granted a pardon after a long campaign to rehabilitate his reputation. Pardons are usually given when someone has been found to be innocent after the event, but government sources said Turing was being pardoned because he was ‘a truly exceptional man who saved Britain’.
That means the decision to pardon Turing will not lead to pardons for the other 50,000 men convicted of similar homosexual offences.
Mr Grayling told the Mail: ‘In a list of Britain’s war heroes, the names of people like Churchill, Montgomery, Barnes Wallis, stand proud. Alan Turing’s name should sit with them. And yet after the war, far from being feted as a hero, he finished his life in disgrace. He was hauled before the courts and humiliated. His crime was that he was gay.
‘I have always regarded it as one of the great blights on our country’s history that a man who did so much for all of us should have been treated in such a terrible way.
‘And I am proud that the Queen has agreed to my request that he should be granted a full posthumous pardon, and that his memory should now have no stain upon it.
‘Alan Turing is one of the key reasons why Britain remained a free country. It is right that we should remember and celebrate his memory free from the taint of injustice.’ The campaign to pardon Turing was backed by MPs from all parties and by scientists such as the physicist Stephen Hawking. An e-petition calling for a pardon received 37,404 signatures.
In 2009 the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a public apology for his treatment but did not secure a pardon.
Yesterday Prime Minister David Cameron said: ‘Alan Turing was a remarkable man who played a key role in saving this country.
‘His action saved countless lives. He also left a remarkable national legacy through his substantial scientific achievements, often being referred to as the father of modern computing.’
Tory MP Iain Stewart, who represents Milton Keynes South, home of Bletchley Park, said he was ‘over the moon that justice has prevailed’.
Rare: Only three people have received Royal pardons since 1945: Timothy Evans, executed for the murder of his wife in 1950; Derek Bentley, hanged despite being 'feeble-minded'; and Michael Shields, right
Derek Bentley's grave, left, proclaimed that he was a 'victim of British justice'. Timothy Evans was only pardoned after it emerged serial killer John Christie, right, had murdered his wife. By then he had been hanged
He said: ‘Alan Turing made a huge impact on the world he lived in and left a legacy for the world of today and tomorrow. This royal pardon is a just reward for a man who was stripped of his honour, his work, and the loyalty he showed his nation.’
But gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: ‘Singling out Turing just because he is famous is wrong.
‘An apology and pardon is due to another 50,000-plus men who were also convicted of consenting, victimless homosexual relationships during the 20th century.
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